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Despard Silverbranch
Despard Silverbranch was one of the Silverbranch Brothers and later King's Champion of Grandbell under Lysander Trathiel in the Second Age. His spirit eventually ended up sharing a body first with Kagetsu II and then with Sumrah Brown in the Third Age. He became known as Steve and worked with the Fellowship of Maar Sul until he regained his memories and true identity at the Silverbranch Tree. Despard is presently serving King Gerard Aurelac and has returned to Maar Sul City to continue his duty as the Director of SAVAGE-SRT. Biography Early Years Early Life Despard Silverbranch grew up with his brothers, Grady and Alain in Grandbell in the Second Age. He was the most grave and serious of the three Silverbranch Brothers. He became dedicated to swordsmanship at a very young age, and his skill grew rapidly. From youth to the very end, Despard was a very simple warrior, and disliked ostentation. While others would carry around engraved, bejewelled, or even glowing swords, Despard stuck to simple long- and broadswords. Dark Times During the Grandbell Civil War, Despard never strayed far from Sir Lysander Trathiel's side. He became fast friends with the bard Leon Alcibiates and fought against the Scuns who fought for independence and were led by Khasra I. Out of everyone in the world, nobody was more broken up at Alain Silverbranch's death than Despard. This actually drove a wedge between Despard and Leon, as he blamed Leon's indecisiveness for Alain's death. Despard eventually got over this and forgave Leon, but by then, the Andain had already died at the hands of Arawn Losstarot. Despard was the one who killed Queen Adevia, effectively ending the Grandbell Civil War and avenging Alain whom Adevia had killed. He survived the catastrophic Explosion that ended the Arawn Losstarot War. He helped oversee Khasra turn Scundia, Grandbell's province, into an independent kingdom despite him and Khasra fighting on different sides during the civil war. After the War When Despard was in his 60s, King Lysander asked him if he had any regrets, and Despard replied that he regretted not reconciling with his old friend Leon. From the end of the war until Grandbell became part of the kingdom of Aison, Despard remained an active member of Grandbell's government. After Grandbell's absorption into Aison, Despard moved to Scundor where he remained until his death at the age of 91, thereby outliving both of his brothers. Distreyd Era Return to Life :''Main article: Kagetsu II Despard was able to "return" to life by exploiting a rift left in the veil between the lands of the living and the dead, and ended up sharing a body with then-Prince Kagetsu II of Maar Sul in the Third Age. The rift was actually caused by the resurrection of Leon Alcibiates in Remon, but Despard didn't know it at the time. While Despard's spirit entered Kagetsu's body, Grady entered the body of Kagetsu's brother, Geraud Aurelac, and Alain entered the body of Kagetsu's sister, Réin Aurelac. Kagetsu and Geraud eventually met the resurrected Leon Alcibiates in Folsworth Woods and joined the Grand Alliance in 1003 AE. At this time they also became aware of the spirits of the Silverbranch brothers in their bodies. Despard made his presence known to Leon through Kagetsu and reconciled his differences with the bard. However, he saw very little of the bard as Kagetsu assumed the throne of Maar Sul shortly after his unification with Despard, and there was very little time left over for nonadministrative matters. In Kagetsu's body, Despard made good use of both his swordsmanship in combat and the clerical skills he had learned administering Grandbell later in his life. He became one of the leaders of the Grand Alliance and aided Marcus Sarillius in the Great War against Yamato and the Clergy of Mardük by liberating many kingdoms, including Kagetsu's home kingdom of Maar Sul. Despard gave Kagetsu an edge during the First Battle of Maar Sul when he guided Kagetsu's hand in the duel against Noriaki Hyuga, the Shogun Impostor, and prevailed. The war was not without sacrifices for the Silverbranch line, however: Réin (and Alain who shared her body) died of poison during the Struan Rebellion, and Geraud (and Grady) sacrificed himself to become the Silverbranch Tree in Yamato in order to replace the dead world tree, Yggdrasil. Kagetsu, and Despard who shared his body, had to carry on despite knowing that they had both lost people dear to them. A New Body :Main article: Sumrah Brown Kagetsu, Despard's host, died in the First Battle of Vulpengaard Keep in 1006 AE, and Despard finally saw the spirit of his brother Alain waiting for him at the gates of the Land of the Dead. However, Despard refused to follow his brother and Kagetsu II to the afterlife because he decided to take over the body of a Maar Sulais warrior named Sumrah Brown whose actions and loyalty to the Maar Sulais King had moved him deeply. This possession differed from Despard's previous host, Kagetsu II, because he entered Sumrah's body just when Sumrah was committing suicide. This meant that Despard's spirit could fully take over Sumrah's body while Sumrah's spirit left the body and entered the underworld. Despard no longer had to share the body with another spirit as he had with Kagetsu II: he was his own master now and had effectively become a lich. However, having full control over a body which was never meant to be his made Despard lose his memories. Before the amnesia kicked in, Alain scolded Despard for such foolish actions but promised to wait for his return. The now-amnesiac Despard, who occupied Sumrah's body, met Leon sometime after the battle in Vulpengaard Keep. When he said he could not remember anything, not even his name, Leon dubbed him Steve the Nameless. The Cataclysm struck the world soon after, ending the Great War and forcing the Grand Alliance to retreat from Yamato which was quickly overrun by demons. Despard, now known as Steve, returned to Maar Sul with Leon and became a member of SAVAGE. Although he had lost his memories prior to the battle in Vulpengaard Keep, he hadn't forgotten his skills as a warrior and quickly rose through the ranks. He eventually became the chief of SAVAGE-SRT as well as one of Leon's most trusted officers. He also married a woman named Ivy around this time. Despite his best efforts, Steve couldn't find out anything about his past much to his and SAVAGE's frustration. The reason for this was that his host body, Sumrah, had had high enough rank to have dossiers about his skill but not quite high enough to actually have his name listed on papers about notable people. The SAVAGE archives of Maar Sul had also been damaged during the Great War against Yamato, and the papers which likely might've mentioned something about Sumrah had been lost. Godslayer Era The Age of Emptiness Steve served as Armsmaster of the Citadel of Maar Sul City as well as SAVAGE-SRT's chief for many years, and Leon acted as the regent of Maar Sul until Kagetsu II's son Gerard Aurelac would come of age. Steve discovered an ominous prophecy from Leon's old journals in 1016 AE and went to talk with Leon about the prophecy's contents. He explained that the prophecy foretold of a threat to the House of Aurelac and that this threat was already looming on the horizon. Alarmed by such news, Leon gave Steve full authority to use all of SAVAGE personnel to identify and find the person who might threaten the nation of Maar Sul. Steve hurried to carry out the orders: the hunt had begun. It only took a matter of days for things to unravel just like the prophecy had foretold. Andrei Pronin, an offshoot of the House of Aurelac, formed the Proninist Party in Remon and took over Remonton before anyone even realized what was going on. Word of Pronin's plans to extend his grasp to the rest of Remon as well as Maar Sul soon reached the ears of Steve and Leon who realized that the gloomy prophecy might fulfill itself sooner than expected. On Death's Trail Andrei Pronin wasted no time and invaded Scundia in a matter of weeks, which gave him ample cannon fodder to use against the Maar Sulais troops. The Scundian King Khasra Mallorein III was forced to flee with his few loyalists to Maar Sul City while Pronin persuaded the majority of Scuns to join the Proninist Party. Khasra III began planning with Leon and Gerard Aurelac and suggested a decisive attack against the Proninists before the Proninists could strike at the city of Victoire. Steve accompanied Khasra to the Maar Sulais reinforcement army which was en route to Victoire, and they participated in a battle against the Proninists. However, it turned out to be a trap when more Proninist reinforcements suddenly arrived. The remnants of the Maar Sulais forces had to flee because they could not risk losing Khasra and lose support of the Scuns in Maar Sul. However, the remnants of the army did not reach the Remonian border as they had planned; instead, they ended up in Scundia. It was around this time that Steve noticed something weird in Khasra, and the animosity between the two began to take shape. Steve somehow managed to locate a hidden trail that even Khasra did not know about. The two began to argue, and Khasra grew worried of Steve's blank past. Steve likewise felt uncomfortable around Khasra. He told Khasra that he would stay by Khasra's side until he had found out his true identity. The animosity between Khasra and Steve escalated into a prank war which involved vomiting into each other's shoes. And this was just the beginning of the rivalry between the two men. They managed to get back to Maar Sul City just in time before the Proninists began a year-long siege of the city. A Game of Deception Steve found out that his wife, Ivy, was pregnant, and he assisted her in childbirth. They gave their son the name Liosliath; it was a decision they had agreed on months prior. However, Steve soon figured out that his son looked like Khasra. When he demanded an explanation, Ivy finally confessed that Khasra had slept with her as a sort of practical joke to piss off Steve. However, it turned out it had been something Steve and Ivy had been planning all along when Steve asked whether Khasra had received syphilis from Ivy. Ivy confirmed it and told Steve that she had been cured from syphilis after she had had the sexual encounter with Khasra. Steve was pleased to hear that the plan had worked and that he had scored a decisive victory in his prank war against his archrival. He attended a strategy meeting with the officials in the Maar Sulais Citadel and was instrumental in setting up a trap for the Proninists who began the Second Battle of Maar Sul a day later. Leon crowned Gerard the King of Maar Sul around this time. The battle in Maar Sul City was fierce but with the help of Steve and various others the young king Gerard succeeded in capturing Andrei Pronin and sending the Proninists fleeing from the city. Although they had scored an important victory, it would only be a matter of time before the Proninists elected a new leader. Things turned sour, however, when Pronin was murdered in his cell by a mysterious person who was given the codename Wolfsbane. A few days after the battle Steve and the others came to an agreement that they needed Remon's help to form the Grand Alliance anew. If Remon and Maar Sul formed a new Grand Alliance, they could gather enough forces to defeat the remaining Proninists for good and liberate the occupied Maar Sulais and Scundian cities in the countryside. However, to do this they would have to help to free the Remonian resources by stopping the Blood Fever which was killing off the elven population in Remon. Leon suggested a journey to the Silverbranch Tree which was located in the heart of Yamato, and Steve and Khasra would be among the few people who would accompany him to the Tree. If all went well, the Tree could tell them how to put an end to the Blood Fever. Steve eventually recruited Briss Phoenixheart to the group because the group, despite having four SAVAGE operatives, needed more offensive power if something bad were to happen during the journey through hostile lands. The Fellowship of Maar Sul began the long journey to Yamato the following day. The fellowship eventually reached Port Dunross where they met with Major Oswald Flynn, a seemingly loyal ally of King Gerard. Oswald informed the group of recent developments in Eastern Maar Sul and how the Proninists had begun working with the mysterious death cult known as the Totenkopfs. The major sent his subordinate, Garth Tyrell, to accompany the fellowship to at least Trinity Gask. The group accepted the offer but one of the fellowship members, Alistair Wisteria, warned Steve and the others that Oswald Flynn might not be completely on their side. Nevertheless the party continued the journey to Trinity Gask where they would resupply and then continue their journey to the east. Echoes of War The fellowship reached Trinity Gask where they witnessed the birth of the Crimson Coalition, an alliance of many sinister factions such as the Proninist Party, the Totenkopfs and the Rebels. The Coalition would act to oppose the growing influence of the Grand Alliance, and the Coalition's leader revealed herself as Glaurung Losstarot, a direct descendant of the infamous warlock Arawn Losstarot. Before the fellowship could fully recover from such a shocking revelation, they realized that the Coalition had become aware of their existence in the city. Someone had thus betrayed the fellowship and Alistair assumed it was none other than Major Oswald Flynn. There was no time for speculation, though, and the fellowship fled from Trinity Gask with Glaurung's Mullencamp forces in hot pursuit- Garth Tyrell volunteered to stay behind to hold the villains off. However, this did not seem to stall the Mullencamp who still continued the pursuit. It required the sacrifices of two members of the fellowship, Grant and Reynard Sauternais, to give the remaining fellowship members enough time to escape to safety. As the fellowship mourned the loss of Grant and Reynard a few days later in a tavern, they met a man named Kite who wanted to speak with them in private. Although the fellowship, especially Steve, were suspicious, they did not want to draw attention to themselves in Alentian territory so they reluctantly followed Kite out of the inn. Kite turned out to be an entrepreneuer who had been hired to get the group to meet with Josiah Amdusias who was on his way to the city of Alent. Josiah asked the group to accompany him to Alent, and the party agreed because they needed to resupply anyway before the Coalition's forces would catch them. Steve had some fun on the expense of the fellow SAVAGE operative Guy Jr. although he was shocked when he heard that Leon was in fact the original Leon the Andain and not just a person who had been named after Leon. The fellowship also got to hear about the political situation in the Magicracy of Alent during the journey and that things might turn dangerous once they entered the city. The meeting with Jemuel, the leader of Alent, turned sour. Steve was disturbed by the presence of Jemuel's masked advisor, Drishnek, but he also did not like Leon's violent reaction when Leon realized who Drishnek was. Luckily the group managed to survive the verbal confrontation although they had essentially become prisoners who could not leave the city without Jemuel's permission. Steve had to calm Briss down when he saw how angered the man was by the arrogance and threatening behaviour of Jemuel and Drishnek. A few days passed as the group waited for a chance to talk with Jemuel again and persuade him to let them continue the journey to Yamato. However, they were caught by surprise when Drishnek suddenly attacked the inn they were staying in. Something had happened because Drishnek had lost his sanity along his mask and now revealed his true colours as a terrifying lich. Because Drishnek was targeting Leon, Steve and Khasra decided to take Leon to safety. However, when Khasra realized that his skills as a paladin might be useful against a being of shadow like Drishnek, Steve began joking about it in a grim manner which pissed Khasra off. Steve and Khasra didn't get to continue their banter much longer, however, because Drishnek chased after them and resumed his attack. Things turned even worse when the Vulfsatz, top assassins of the Crimson Coalition, appeared and slew Guy Jr. on the spot. While Steve did his best to keep Leon safe from the Vulfsatz, Khasra engaged Drishnek with the help of newly arrived Alentian paladins led by Ariadne. Eventually Khasra slew Drishnek, and the Vulfsatz retreated... for now. The Alentian paladins tried to explain that Drishnek had been influencing Jemuel and that Jemuel had now recovered, but the fellowship did not stay behind to listen. They had been targeted by two different factions and they were not going to trust Alentians anymore. They fled from the city in the aftermath of the chaotic battle, and the Alentian paladins failed to catch them. A Crimson Dawn The fellowship entered a forest during their escape from Alent, hoping to elude the Vulfsatz and the Alentians. However, they bumped into one of the Faerfolc. Steve was startled by the appearance of the fey and prepared to attack, but he was defeated easily. Leon managed to calm the fey down and made her grant the group some protection against demons because the Faerfolc still owed Leon who had helped them in the past. The heroes stopped to resupply at Vanna where they heard that Sultana Adela al-Saif and the Clergy of Artemicia were expecting to get their hands on a shard of Krystallopyr. This pissed off Leon, but Steve did not ask why a mention of some random name had angered the usually calm Leon. Things were looking grim, however, because they were meeting more and more potential enemies as their journey led them deeper into enemy territory. They began wondering if they were in fact walking towards their doom. The fellowship ran out of luck once they had passed the Yamatian border; they were captured by a patrol of the Akai Tora led by Damian Resta who escorted them to their stronghold within the mountains. When things looked bad, a cleric named Alathor appeared and suggested that the fellowship co-operates with the Akai Tora and the Forgotten to take Vulpengaard Keep from demons. Steve was not happy to see Alathor who wore the symbols of the dark god Mardük, but he and his companions realized that they had no other choice than to help the Akai Tora and the Forgotten if they wanted to continue the journey to the Silverbranch Tree. The Second Battle of Vulpengaard Keep ended in victory thanks to help from the fellowship. It was assumed that Khasra fell in battle because he didn't rejoin the fellowship after the battle, and Steve came close to mourning the loss of his archrival whom he had loved to hate. However, when everything seemed to go well for the fellowship at last, Shogun Hiroshi Takamoto of the Akai Tora was almost assassinated by people who appeared to be Leon and Steve. The fellowship quickly realized that they had been framed by someone, but the Akai Tora thought that the fellowship were traitors and put them into jail. The heroes tried to speculate who wanted to get them imprisoned and why, but before they could come to a conclusion, Takamoto's right-hand man Samachi Nomura appeared and ordered Steve, the supposed chief assassin, to be taken to a separate jail to wait for execution at dawn. Although Steve looked calm on the outside, he was worried that his life would come to an end. He was surprised to see none other than Khasra in the flesh. It turned out Khasra had survived the battle but had had to recover from his wounds before he could rejoin the fellowship. This had saved him from being captured, and he had quickly found out that the Akai Tora were keeping the fellowship as prisoners. Khasra rescued Steve, and the two men headed for the rest of the prisoners. They were surprised when they met their companions who had already escaped thanks to Ariadne and the Alentian paladins who had helped them fight against Drishnek earlier. Steve also felt something calling for him from the location where the Silverbranch Tree was located in, and he wondered what it was all about. The fellowship managed to escape from Vulpengaard Keep with the Alentian paladins and eventually reached the Silverbranch Tree. The sudden appearance of the spirit of Grady Silverbranch, whose spirit had been fused with the Tree, suddenly triggered something in Steve. Steve finally regained all of his memories and realized he was none other than Grady's brother, Despard Silverbranch, whose spirit had taken over the body of a Maar Sulais soldier named Sumrah Brown. As only Despard's spirit remained in the body (Sumrah had joined Kagetsu II's spirit in the afterlife after the Battle in Vulpengaard Keep), Steve was called Despard from that moment on. The reason for Despard's animosity for Khasra III became clear as well when his memories returned: he had fought against Khasra III's ancestor, Khasra I, in the past and the two Khasras looked alike, which had triggered the negative feelings deep within Despard's soul even when he had been an amnesiac. The two men decided to put the past behind them and start from a clean slate. The prank war had finally come to an end. Grady gave the new Silver Branch to the fellowship, instructing them to use it in tandem with Dawn and Dusk to cure the Blood Fever. He also gave Despard the sword Twilight and opened a portal which would lead the heroes to the wielder of Dawn: Axikasha Keiran. However, it was then the Vulfsatz appeared and attacked. While the rest of the heroes entered the portal, Despard stayed behind to stall the Vulfsatz. Despard had a fierce duel against Orestes, the leader of the Vulfsatz, and bested him. When he realized that Orestes was only serving the Coalition out of love for a person he wanted to avenge, he decided to spare Orestes and entered the portal. The Vulfsatz were thrown out of the White Seal which protected the Tree, but Orestes swore to hunt down Despard who had in his view insulted him by besting him in combat and letting him live with the shame. Tears of the Sun Despard and his companions appeared onboard the Hiltraud from the portal that Grady had opened. They found out that a group of heroes led by Axikasha Keiran was currently sailing to Libaterra to restore a deposed Emir Khalid al-Saif to the throne of Vanna. The Fellowship decided to help Ax and Khalid on their quest because they knew that they would need their help to cure the Blood Fever. More info later. The Winds of Wrath More info later. Sowing Season More info later. Devourer's Reach More info later. Aliases and Nicknames ; Arsehole : A derogatory nickname used for a time by Khasra III. ; Director : His title as the chief of SAVAGE-SRT. ; Steve the Nameless : What Despard was called when he was an amnesiac in the body of Sumrah Brown. ; Swiftblade : A nickname given to Despard during his time as Steve. Its origin is in Despard/Steve's unusual skills in mastering his chosen weapon, the bastard sword. The reason for this, however, was that Despard as Steve still remembered his old swordfighting skills even if he could not recall why he knew the way of the sword so well. Appearance In a word, nondescript. In his current body Despard has brown hair and likes to wear all brown. He currently wields a bastard sword called Twilight. Personality and Traits Dislikes ostentation, and favors a bastard sword as a weapon. Is capable of offhanding a shortsword, but prefers to retain the freedom to use his bastard sword in a one- or two-handed manner as the situation warrants. Powers and Abilities Despard is very skilled in the use of his bastard sword and this is because of years of experience. He has bested many skilled opponents such as Noriaki Hyuga and Orestes in battle. He is also able to burp the alphabet and play the trumpet with his bum. No magic, though. Relationships Alain Silverbranch Alain and Despard got along well, and Despard was crushed to hear of Alain's death in the hands of Queen Adevia. Briss Phoenixheart Supposedly Briss already knew and probably worked with Despard/Steve during his time in SAVAGE. The two became comrades during their mission to the Silverbranch Tree. Gerard Aurelac Despard gets along with Gerard and has taught him some swordfighting moves. Grady Silverbranch Despard likes Grady. Ivy Silverbranch Ivy is a woman Despard married while he was known as Steve. Despard loves her dearly. Khalid al-Saif Khalid's relationship with Despard did not start well when he found out that Despard was in fact his older brother, Sumrah. He is still unaware that only the body belongs to Sumrah and the spirit is in fact Despard's. Nevertheless Khalid sees Despard as a threat to his claims for the throne, and he is willing to eliminate him if things do not go his way. Khasra Mallorein III Despard (as Steve) and Khasra III immediately disliked each other and performed all sorts of silly and nasty pranks on one another. They became archrivals and stayed that way for a long time. Despard was not sure why he did not like Khasra until the truth was revealed at the Silverbranch Tree when he regained his memories. Despard had fought against Khasra III's ancestor, Khasra I. Khasra III looked exactly like the earlier Khasra and hence the animosity. Despard and Khasra III made a truce and have since begun acting in a more adult manner. Leon Alcibiates Leon and Despard were good friends until Despard began blaming Leon for Alain's death. He eventually forgave Leon and talked to him when both of them were reborn. Now they are good pals again. Despard (as Steve) served Leon loyally while Leon was prince, and he even protected Leon on many occasions during their dangerous journey to Yamato. Liosliath Silverbranch Although Liosliath's biological father is Khasra III, Liosliath is nevertheless regarded as the son of Despard (Steve) and Ivy. Despard loves him dearly. Orestes Ever since their first encounter in Alent, Despard and Orestes saw each other as worthy opponents. Although Despard eventually grew more and more weary of conflict and even spared Orestes during one encounter, he didn't expect that sparing Orestes's life would only anger Orestes more. Orestes has sworn to hunt Despard down and plans to defeat him in combat to regain his honour. See also *Fellowship of Maar Sul *Grandbell *Grandbell Civil War *Ivy Silverbranch *Kagetsu II *Khasra III *Liosliath Silverbranch *Orestes *SAVAGE *Silverbranch Brothers *Sumrah Brown *Twilight Category:Characters Category:Fellowship of Maar Sul Category:Grand Alliance Category:Grandbell Category:Maar Sul (faction) Category:Maar Sul (nation) Category:SAVAGE Category:Second Age Category:Silverbranch Clan Category:Third Age Category:Undead